base cards
Pinnacle seems to always have nice cards. They have a little flash with just the right amount of restraint. I am not much for the horizontal design, but these are still good looking cards. A base set of 150 also feels about right.

subsets
X-Press has two subsets, the 1997 Rookies and Peak Performers. It’s pretty much by the book. A subset for the rookies and another for the super stars. Regardless, it’s fine. They look different and stand out (but not too much) from the base cards. There is a reason all the card companies follow the same formula – the formula works pretty well. (OK, they all might be a bit lazy as well.)

insert cards
The inserts are pretty predictable too. One is a full parallel set (actually kind of novel in 1997), another is a pretty easy insert, and the last is a tough (1:288 packs), serial-numbered insert. Predictable or not, they’re decent looking cards. I like them, although I didn’t pull the more difficult Melting Pot insert.

game cards
Who doesn’t love a game? I might not get this right, but here goes… The Swing for the Fences game was about matching the number of home runs hit by the AL and NL leader with player and point (HR) game cards. At the end of the season, if a collector sent in the right player card (Swing for the Fences card) with the right number of Booster Points (sum total), then Pinnacle sent the collector some redemption cards. The Swing for the Fences player cards are little more than very flimsy baseball cards. The Booster Points have a range of values. I got anything from +8 to –4, but I’ve seen others like –8.

Conclusion

This was a nice box. Why did Pinnacle fold if they put out great products like this? What’s best is that these boxes can be found for nothing. They’re certainly out there for under $20. This product also came in a big mama, 36-pack version. These can be found for under $20 as well.